Double edge veneer jogger and jointer



Oct. 31, 1961 J. J. PEARL DOUBLE EDGE VENEER JOGGER AND JOINTER 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 12, 1958 INVENTOR. JO/l/V 1/ P/FA/QL A7'7'OE/VE Y5 Oct. 31, 1961 J. J. PEARL DOUBLE EDGE VENEER JOGGER ANDJOINTER 4 Sheets$heet 2 Filed May 12, 1958 Oct. 31, 1961 J. J. PEARL3,006,389

DOUBLE EDGE VENEER JOGGER AND JOINTER Filed May 12, 1958 4 Sheets-$heet5 INVENTOR. Ja/K/V f/T Pz-AAL 7 I BY WMQW Oct. 31, 1961 J. J. PEARLDOUBLE EDGE VENEER JOGGER AND JOINTER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 12,1958 INVENTOR. JOHN J PEARL United States Patent 3,006,389 DOUBLE EDGEVENEER JOGGER AND JOINTER John J. Pearl, Lebanon, reg., assignor toCascades Plywood Corporation, Portland, 0reg., a corporation of DelawareFiled May 12, 1958, Ser. No. 734,688 14 Claims. (Cl. 144117) Theinvention relates to a veneer jogger and jointer which includesmechanism to effect edge-for-edge reversal of a pack of veneer sheets inthe jogging and jointing sequence so that both edges of each sheet insuch a pack will be planed during passage of the pack through themachine without requiring manual handling. This application is acompanion of my copending application Serial No. 525,911, entitledVeneer Jogger and Jointer, now Patent No. 2,834,384.

In processing two packs of sheets simultaneously it is an objectfollowing jogging of one pack and jointing of another pack to be able toshift one pack from the jogger to the jointer and the other pack fromthe jointer'to the jogger at the same time without interference andspecifically to effect such transfer at difierent levels.

An incidental object is to feed a pack of sheets into one side of ajointer and back out the same side with minimum interference with thenext pack of jogged sheets to be jointed.

Another incidental object is to be able to feed a pack of sheets intoone side of the jogger and out from the same side of the jogger withoutinterference with another pack of sheets and a companion object is toturn such a pack of sheets side-for-side during such movement into andout of the jogger. A specific object is during such movement out of thejogger to prevent relative edgewise shifting of the sheets in a packwhile the pack is being turned from a position in which the sheets aredisposed in upright planes to a position in which the sheets are inhorizontal planes and in accomplishing this object it is a furtherobject to utilize arms which serve three distinct functions, first thatof moving a pack of sheets onto the jogger, second that of confining oneside of the pack of sheets while it is being jogged on the jogger andthird that of holding the sheets in the pack against relative edgewisemovement while the pack is being turned to dispose the sheetshorizontally during removal of the pack from the jogger.

-An additional object is to effect movement of a pack of sheets from thejogger to the jointer with the sheets disposed substantially inhorizontal planes to minimize the tendency of the sheets to be shiftededgewise relatively despite movement of two packs of sheets between thejogger and the jointer simultaneously in opposite directions.

It is also an object of the invention to provide mechanism which willjog sheets of a pack satisfactorily so that the opposite edges of thesheets in the pack can be jointed satisfactorily even though the sheetsin the pack may differ considerably in width.

These objects can be accomplished by a machine to which packs of sheetsare fed successively, preferably endwise, with the sheets disposed inhorizontal planes. The pack of sheets is then shifted edgewise andtilted to dispose the sheets in upright planes on a jogger which willjog the sheets until their lower edges are disposed in coplanarregistry. This sheet pack will then be laid down so that the packoccupies a horizontal plane substantially level with the jointer and thepack is discharged from the same side of the jogger into which it wasloaded, and beneath the supply conveyor, to the jointer. As the firstpack of jogged sheets is being thus transferred, the next pack of sheetswill be moved from the supply conveyor to the jogger. The first andsecond pack of 3,006,389 Patented Oct. 31, 1961 ice sheets will then bejointed and jogged, respectively, simultaneously. Thereafter the pack ofsheets having one edge jointed will be shifted from the jointer out ofthe side toward the jogger and upward to the jogger while the secondpack of sheets is being shifted from the jogger to the jointer in thesame manner that the first pack of sheets was shifted as described. Whenthe first pack of sheets is moved into the jogger, jogged and moved outof the same side of the jogger to the jointer for jointing of the otheredges of the sheets, such pack will have been inverted side-for-side sothat the other edge will be moved into the jointer. At the time that thesecond pack of sheets is being moved from the jogger to the jointer forthe second time, the first pack of sheets having bothedges jointed willbe moved from the jointer to a discharge conveyor while a third pack ofsheets is moved by the supply conveyor to the jogger. The machinerepeats this procedure so that both edges of all sheets in each pack arejointed between the time that the pack of sheets is supplied to themachine and the time that it is discharged from the machine.

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the jogger andjointer machine.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the machine with parts broken away andshowing the parts in one operative relationship. FIGURES 3, 4, 5 and 6are generally similar views showing parts in diflEerent operativerelationships,

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 7-7 ofFIGURE 2 with parts broken away.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary vertical section of the jogging mechanism.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary side elevation view taken on line 9-9 ofFIGURE 1 with parts broken away showing the conveyor drive mechanism,and FIGURE '10 is a fragmentary plan view of this mechanism taken online 10-'10 of FIGURE 2. -It has been customary practice for workmen atopposite ends of a pack of veneer sheets to tilt the pack from ahorizontal position to a position in which the sheets are on edge andthen to slide various veneer sheets downward as necessary and jostle thesheets until all their lower edges are in practically the same plane.The pack of veneer sheets would then be placed-in a jointer for jointingthe edges of the sheets in registry. The

7 to remove from the machine the packs of veneer sheets after only oneedge had been jointed and to re-run the packs through the machine tojoint the other edges of the sheets.

By use of the jointing and jogging machine of the present invention,each pack of veneer sheets is manipulated to joint the opposite edges ofthe sheets sequentially while the sheet pack is in the machine, and suchjointing is effected with a minimum waste of material even though thesheets in the pack are of various widths. A pack of veneer sheets to bejointed is supplied to the machine by the feed conveyor roller 1 in thedirection indicated. by the arrow in FIGURE 1 at a location between thejogger shown in the upper portion of that figure and the jointer shownin the lower portion. When jointing of both edges of each sheet in thepack has been completed, the pack will be returned to a position inalignment with the feed conveyor and will be discharged from the machineby the rolls 2 of the discharge conveyor in the direction indicated bythe arrow. When in position for movement into or out of the machine, thepack of sheets willrest on the rolls 3 located between the feed conveyorroll 1 and the discharge conveyor rolls 2. All of the rolls 1, 2 and 3are driven simultaneously by a chain 3' interconnecting them so that apack of sheets to be jointed will be moved into the machine at the sametime that a pack of sheets having its edges jointed is moved out of themachine.

, In FIGURE 2 a pack of veneer sheets P is shown carried by the rolls 3in a position to start its progress through the jogging and jointingmachine. The sheet pack is shifted lengthwise of the rolls by belts 4located alongside the rolls 3, the upper stretches of which are raisedinto positions above the rolls by upward movement of the belt backingstrips 5 effected by extension of the air pressure actuated piston andcylinder actuators 6. As shown in FIGURE 1 these belts are driven in adirection to shift the pack of veneer sheets to the right as seen inFIGURES 2 and 3. Such movement of the pack will be arrested byengagement of its leading edge with the bars 7 of the jogger mechanism.Since the belts 4 are smooth, they will simply slip beneath the pack ofsheets until the pack isvready to be fed into the jogger.

When the pack of sheets is to be placed in the jogger, the air actuatedcylinder 8 will be extended from the position shown in FIGURE 2 to thatof FIGURE 4 so as to swing arm 9 of frame 10 through an angle of 90degrees for elevating the arms 11 from the positions shown in FIGURES 1,2 and 3 to the positions shown in FIGURE 4. The length of the arms 11 issufficient so that the roller 12 on the end of each arm will engage thelowermost sheet of the veneer pack adjacent to the left edge of the packas seen in FIGURES 2 and 3. Consequently, the effect of the arms 11being swung upward is to tilt the pack of sheets from horizontal toupright position as shown in FIGURE 4.

The arms 11 will swing about the center of shaft 13 as an axis duringthis movement. The end of each arm 11 projects to the right beyond shaft13 to a location adjacent to the arms 7 as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, sothat when such arms are in the upright position the entrance to thejogger space is substantially closed by the right ends of arms 11. Whenthe arms 11 are in their upright positions, however, as shown in FIGURE4, there will be suflicient space between the arms 11 and the arms 7 toreceive a pack of sheets considerably exceeding the sum of thethicknesses of all the veneer sheets in the pack. The lower edges of theveneer sheets will rest upon and be supported by the jogger bars 14 whenthe sheets are on edge standing between the arms 7 and the arms 11. Thearms 7 and 11 are maintained in their upright positions during joggingof the sheet pack. The jogger bars 14 are mounted on the beam 15 whichis carried by the ends of the arms 16. As shown in F IG- 8, these barsnormally are held in a predetermined position floating between springs17 and 18 on rod 19 which is anchored to the machine frame 20. Duringjogging the arms 16 are swung to raise and drop the pack of sheets byair pressure piston and cylinder actuating means 21 of which there-maybe one or more. By downward movement of the bars 14 the lower edges ofthe sheets in the pack will be dropped onto the stop bars 22 which arepivotally supported on the shaft 23. The impact of the sheet edges onthese stop bars will bring them all into registry in a horizontal planeeven though some of the veneer sheets may be warped considerably.

When the jogging operation has been completed, the next step is totransfer the pack of sheets to the jointer. During such transfer,however, it is important that the sheets be held against relativeedgewise movement so that registry of the sheet edges will be maintaineduntil the pack of sheets is clamped in the jointer. The pack of sheetswas fed to the jogger from the left as seen in FIG- ures 2, 3 and 4, andthe jointer is located to the left of the jogger as seen in thesefigures. Consequently, it is desired to remove the pack of sheets fromthe same side of the jogger into which it was fed. Also, in order to beable to process both edges of the sheet pack, it isnecessary at somestage of the operation to turn the sheet pack sidefor-side and it isconvenient to effect such inversion of the pack during its progressthrough the jogger.

In removing the sheet pack from the jogger, therefore, it will be swungfrom the upright position of FIGURE 4 to the horizontal position ofFIGURE 5 in the same direction that it was swung from the horizontalposition of FIGURE 3 to the upright position of FIGURE 4. To effect suchtilting of the sheet pack the arms 7 are swung about the axis of theirsupporting shaft 24 from the upright position of FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 tothe lowered position of FIGURES 5 and 6. Such movement of the arms isaccomplished by contraction of the air operated piston and cylinderactuators 25 from the position of FIGURE 4 to the position of FIGURE 5.

During swinging of the arms 7 from their upright positions to theirlowered positions, it is important to keep the pack of sheets inrelatively compact condition and to urge the edges of the sheets againstreference registering meansJ As the pack of sheets is tilted, therefore,the arms 11 are swung about the axis of shaft 1'3 from the positionshown in FIGURE 4 to that of FIGURE 5 so as to follow the movement ofthe sheets. Because the arms 7 swing about the axis of shaft 24 and thearms 11 are swung about the axis of shaft 13, the sheet pack will moveedgewise generally lengthwise of arms 11 away from shaft 13. As suchmovement progresses the rollers 12 will engage the upper side of thesheet pack which tend 'to urge the sheet pack to the left. The stop bars22 will be swung upward conjointly with downward swinging of arms 7 soas to constitute reference means against which the registering edges ofthe sheets in the pack may hear so as to maintain them in registry untilthe pack has reached the position of FIGURE 5.

Swinging of arms 11 from the position of FIGURE 4 to the position ofFIGURE 5 in the manner described is accomplished by expansion of the airpressure piston and cylinder actuator 26. One end of this actuator isconnected to the frame 10, tilting of which is controlled by the pistonand cylinder actuator 8 as previously described, and the other end ofactuator 26 is connected to'the arm '27 as seen in FIGURES 4, 5 and 7,for example. By providing separate actuators for swinging the arms 11from the positions of FIGURE 3 to the positions of FIGURE 4 and from thepositions of FIGURE 4 to the positions of FIGURE 5, positive control isobtained over the location of the arms in upright position.

The details or the arm and actuator mounting are shown in FIGURE 7. Theshaft 13 is journaled in bearings 28 and pulleys 29, on which belts 4run, are mounted loosely on this shaft. The arm 27 is formed integralwith-collar 30 which is keyed to shaft 13. Frame 10 includes collar 31which is rotatively mounted on collar 30 and arm 9 projects from collar31. The arm 11 are integral with clamps 32 which are secured on theshaft 13.

As actuator 8 is extended to swing frame 10 from the position of FIGURE3 to that of FIGURE 4, collar 31 will be heldagainst movement relativeto collar 30 by the interconnnection of actuator 26 between frame 10 andarm 27 so that the shaft 13 keyed to collar 30 will be rotated throughthe same angle as the frame 10 is swung; Arms 11 secured to shaft 13will be swung similarly through the same angle as shaft 13 is rotatedand frame 10 is swung so that such arms will be disposed in the definiteupright position of FIGURE 4 when the actuator 8 has been fullyextended. During the next operation, therefore, when actuator 26 isextended, frame 10 will be held stationary by actuator 8 and actuator 26will effect rotation of collar 30, and consequently of shaft 13,relative tocollar 31 and frame 10. Again arms 11 will be swung as shaft13 is rotated and through an equal angle. The stroke of actuator 26should be sufficiently great so that the wheels 12 will be held incontact with the upper side of the sheetpack until it reaches theposition of FIGURE however thick the pack may i e.

The jointer is at the left of the jogger as seen in FIGURE 5. The packof sheets can be shifted from the position shown in FIGURE 5 toward thejointer by belts 33 moving in the direction indicated by the'arrows inFIGURES 5 and 6. To enable the sheet pack to be moved in this direction,however, it is necessary first to move the stop bars 22 out of the waywithout raising the arms 7 again to the upright position shown in FIGURE4. Such movement of the stop bars is effected by retraction of fluidpressure piston and cylinder actuator 34 from the position of FIGURE 5to that of FIGURE 6. Such actuator retraction swings the stop bars aboutpivots 23. By retraction of actuators 8 and 26 the arms 11 can be swungfirst relative to frame back into the position of FIGURE 4 andthereafter, by swinging of the frame from the position of FIGURE 4, tothe position of FIGURES 2 and 3.

The pack of jogged sheets will be carried by the belts 33 through theposition shown in FIGURE 6 almost to the position of the pack P inFIGURE 2. Before it reaches this position, however, it will have beenmoved from belts 33 to belts 35. As the pack of sheets is moved ontobelts 35 it will engage the upper belts 36, the lower stretches of whichare traveling in the same direction as the upper stretches of belts 33as indicated in FIGURES 2 and 3. At one end the loops of belts 36 aremounted on pulleys 37 driven by shaft 38 and at the other end the beltloops are carried by pulleys 39 which are mounted respectively on theswinging ends of arms 40 swingable about the axis of shaft 38.

The speed of belts 36 and 33 Will be synchronized so that they move atthe same speed. As the leading edge of the veneer sheet pack P engagesthe lower stretches of belts 36, therefore, movement of the upper veneersheet will not be accelerated or retarded, but the contact of belts 36with it will simply assist in continuing the transport of the veneersheet pack. The wedging action of the sheet pack moving into'the anglebetween the upper stretches of belts 33 and the lower stretches of belts36 as seen in FIGURE 3 will efiect a wedging action which will swingarms 40 upward to allow the sheet pack to pass beneath pulleys 39 in themanner indicated in FIGURE 2. As the sheet pack passes beyond pulleys 39to the position shown at the left of FIGURE 3, the arms 40 will swingdownward again into the positions of that figure.

'When the jogged sheet pack is moved by belts 35 to the jointer 41 shownin FIGURES 1 and 2, the sheet pack may be compacted as necessary by thelower stretches of belts 43 moving to the left in FIGURE 2 and thenclamped with its jogged edge in engagement with appropriate locatingstop means which are not part of the present invention. The cutter headcarriage 42 of the jointer will then be reciprocated to the effect thejointing action on the jogged edge of the veneer pack. As the pack isbeing moved by belts 35 into the jointer the next pack of sheets will bein process of being moved by belts 4 from the rolls 3 to the jogger asindicated in FIGURE 3 and as described above. Moreover, during thejointing operation mentioned, the next pack of sheets will be in theprocess of being jogged in the manner shown in FIGURE 4 which has alsobeen described. Upon completion of the jointing operation, the jointerclamp will be released substantially simultaneously with tilting of thesheet pack in the jogger from the position shown in FIGURE 4 to that ofFIGURE 5.

During the movement of the next pack of sheets which have been joggedfrom the position of FIGURE 5 to that of FIGURE 6 by the belts 33, thedriving mechanism for belts 35 will have been reversed so as to bemoving to the right as indicated by the broken arrow in FIGURE 3. Suchtravel of belts 35 will withdraw the pack of sheets having one edgejointed from the jointer and such into the position at the right ofFIGURE 3.

pack of sheets will continue to be moved to the right as seen in FIGURE3 until its leading edge engages the upper stretches of belts 36. Theupper stretches of belts 36 will be moving to the right as seen inFIGURE 3 at the same speed as the upper stretches of belts 35. Suitablestop means are provided to limit the downward swinging movement of arms40 so that the leading edge of the pack will move up onto belts 36 andsuch travel will continue until the upper side of the sheet pack engagesthe lower stretches of belts 43.

Belts 43 are driven so that their speed of movement is equal to thespeed of movement of the upper stretches of belts 36. Belts 43 extendaround a driving drum or tube 44 adjacent to the jointer 41 and idlerpulleys 45 carried by the ends of swinging tubular arms 46. These armsare interconnected and mounted for upward and downward swinging by thecross tube 47 shown in FIGURES l and 2. This tube is supported by arms48 for limited upward and downward swinging. Since the weight of thearms 46 and pulleys 45 would exert a force on the leading edge of asheet pack by the belts 43 greater than desirable, the arms 46 should beurged upward so as to limit the downward pressure of the belts. -Also,suitable stop means are provided to prevent downwardswinging of the armsbelow a lower limiting position.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 10, lever arms 49 project upward from arms 49'connecting tube 44 with shaft 69 at one end and with a correspondinglocation on the machine frame at the other end. Compression springs 50are interengaged between the upper ends of such arms 49 and a stationarybacking 51. A guide rod may extend through each spring and a sleeve 52pivoted on the swinging end of the arm 49. Such springs will exert aforce on the ends of arms 49 producing a moment on tube 44 tending toswing the arms 46 upward and thus support the major part'of the weightof tubes 44 and 47. Arms 46 are supported from shaft 53 by arms 54 whichare connected to the individual arms 46 by links '55 as shown in FIGURE2. Such linkage will produce an upward counter-balancing force on thearms 46 by a counterweight on arm 53' tending to effect rotation ofshaft 53 in a direction to lift arms 46. Such counterweight will balancethe major portion of the Weight of arms 46 and pulleys 45.

When a pack of sheets moves up the incline defined by belts 36 asindicated in FIGURE 3 so that its leading edge engages the lowerstretches of belts 43, the arms 46 will be swung upward by the wedgingforce of the pack but the belts 43 will be pressed lightly against theupper side of the pack by the residual weight of the belt-carryingstructure. Since both belts 36 and 43 are driven positively, they willcooperate to convey the pack of sheets up the incline by application ofa driving force to both sides of the pack, accompanied by a packcompressing force, so that despite the rather steep slope of the inclineformed by the upper stretches of belts 36 none of the sheets will slideedgewise out of the pack down the incline. When the trailing edge of thepack has passed beyond pulleys 45 the leading portion of the pack willbe far enough up the slope so that it will tip the pack down intoengagement with the belts 4.

Shortly after the pack of sheets having its trailing edge jointed in themanner described tilts downward onto belts 4 while they are maintainedin the positions of FIG- URE 3 raised above the rolls 3, the pack willreach the position indicated in the upper portion of FIGURE 2 and belts4 may continue to carry it from that position The arms 7 will stop thesheet pack in this position despite continued movement of belts 4 untilthe other pack of sheets at the lower left of FIGURES 2 and 3 has beenmoved fully into the jointer 41 to a position to be clamped in it. Atthat time the jointer clamp may be actuated to clamp the lower left packfor jointing and the actuator 8 may be'extended to rotate shaft 13 andswing arms 11 upward to theposition of FIGURE 4 for flipping into thejogger as shown in FIGURE 4 the sheet pack having one edge alreadyjointed. r

The joggerwill then be operated to bring into registry the edges, of thesheets in the pack which are now lowermost. The upper jointed sheetedges will, of course, move out'of registry but this does not make anydifference. When the jogging has been completed, the arms 7 will beswung downward from the positions of FIGURE 4 to those of'FIGU-RE andthe sheet pack will be moved from the position of that figure throughthe position of FIGURES 6, 2 and 3 at the lower left into the jointeragain in the manner described previously. The sheet pack will then haveits other edge clamped and jointed, after which it will be removed fromthe jointer and conveyed up the upper stretches of belts 36 in themanner described. When the sheet pack reaches a position generallycentrally of belts 4 and overlying rolls 3 approximately in the positionindicated in the upper portion of FIGURE 2, the skids 5 can be loweredso that the sheet pack again will rest on the rolls 3.

Rolls 1, 2 and 3 will now be driven jointly by the chain 3' so as todischarge to the right as seen in FIGURE 1 the pack of sheets, both,edges'of which have been jointed, and simultaneously to feed from roll 1into a position indicated by broken lines in FIGURE 1 and by solid linesin the upper portion of FIGURE 2 another pack of sheets to be edgejointed. The operation described will then be repeated. It will beevident that packs of sheets delivered into the broken line position ofFIGURE 1 and upper solid line position of FIGURE 2 by belts 36 and 4alternately will be moved on to the right as seen in FIGURE 3 and movedto the right onto rollers 2 as indicated in FIGURE 1. In the firstinstance, the pack of sheets will be re-jogged and moved to the jointeragain to have its other edge jointed. In the second instance, thejointing operation on both edges will have been'completed and the packwill be discharged from the machine at the same time that a new pack ofsheets is supplied to the machine.

In this operation, two packs of sheets will be processed simultaneously.One pack which will have one edge jogged to bring the edges of thesheets into registry will be moving from right to left as seen inFIGURES 2, 3, 5 and 6 along belts 33 and 35 from the jogger to thejointer and the other pack having either its first or both edges jointedwill be moving from left to right along belts '35, the upper stretchesof belts 36 and belts 4 above the oppositely moving lower pack ofsheets. When the sheet packs are not being transferred, one sheet packwill be in the process of being jogged and the other sheet pack will bein the process of having one of its edges jointed. It will be evident,therefore, that this machine efiects a very efficient and continuousjogging and jointing operation and that the sheets of a pack which haveneither of their edges jointed when fed to the machine will bedischarged from the machine with both of their edges jointed ready foredge-joining in a subsequent operation.

In FIGURES 9 and 10 the drive mechanism for the transport system isillustrated. All of the belts 4, 33, 35, 36 and 43 are driven by asingle electric motor 56. This motor drives chain 57 which in turndrives sprockets 58, '59 and 60. Rotation of sprocket 59 will driveshaft 38 and by it the belts 4 and 36 so that these belts move at thesame linear speed.

Shaft 61, carrying pulleys 62 engaged by the right ends of belt loops35, as seen in FIGURES 2, 3 and 10, extends parallel to shaft 38. Twodrive sprockets 63 and 64 are secured to this shaft, the first forrotating the shaft to drive the upper stretches of belts 35 to the leftas seen FIGURES 2 and 1-0 and the second to drive the shaft in theopposite direction for movement of the upper stretches of belts 35to theright as seen in these figures.

'8 In addition, this'shaft carries sprocket 65 which drives chain 66engaged With sprockets 67 and 68. v

Rotation of sprocket 68 turns shaft 69 for driving chain 70 to rotatesprocket 71 on shaft 72 of tube or drum 44. Since sprocket64-is mountedon shaft 61 it will be evident that the direction of movement of belts43 will be reversed as the direction of rotation of shaft 61 isreversed. The connection of chain 66 between sprocket 65 and sprocket 68is such that the adjacent stretches of belts 35 and 43 will always movein the same direction. As the upper stretches of belts 35 are moving tothe left in FIGURES 2, 3 and 10, the lower stretches of belts 43 alsowill be moving to the left. When a pack of veneer sheets is being movedinto the jointer, therefore, usually the upper surface of the pack willbe contacted lightly by the lower stretches of belts 43 both to compactthe pack and to assist its movement into the jointer. Conversely, whenthe direction of movement of the upper stretches of belts 35 is reversedfor withdrawing a pack of sheets from the jointer by reversing thedirection of rotation of shaft 61, the left portions of the lowerstretches of belts 43, again lightly engaged with the upper side of thesheet pack, will be moving to the right as seen in FIGURES 2, 3 and 10at the same linear speed as the upper stretches of belts 35.

Reversible driving of shaft 61 is effected through the sprockets 58 and60. Sprocket 60 is secured on shaft 73 on which are also rotativelyfixed pulleys 74 engaged with belts 33 to drive them. Since shaft 73will be turned continuously in one direction, belts 33 will always bedriven in the same direction. The size of pulleys 74 is selectedrelative to the size of sprocket 60, sprocket 59 and pulleys 37 so thatthe linear speed of belts 33 will be the same as that of belts 4, 36 and43.

Sprocket 58 is secured on shaft 75 and the sprockets 58 and 60 are ofequal size so that shafts 73 and 75 will be turned at equal speeds butin opposite directions. On shaft 73 is loosely journaled a sprocket 76and on shaft 75 is loosely journaled a sprocket 77. Sprocket 76 isconnected to sprocket 63 on shaft 61 by chain 78 and sprocket 77 isconnected to sprocket 64 on that shaft by chain 79. The sprockets 76 and'77 are equal in size and the sprockets 63 and 64 are of equal size.

Encircling shafts 73 and 75, respectively, are clutches and 81. Theseclutches are alternatively operable but cannot :both be energized at thesame time. When clutch 80 is energized while shaft 73 is being rotatedby chain 57 and sprocket 60 in the counterclockwise direction asindicated in FIGURE 9, sprocket 76 will be locked to this shaft so thatthe upper stretch of chain 78 will be driven in the direction indicatedby the arrow in FIGURE 10. The resulting rotation of sprocket 63 willturn shaft 61 in the direction to drive the upper stretches of belts 35to the left for moving a pack of sheets from belts 33 to the jointer 41.Clutch 80 will be deenergized to stop shaft 61 and belts 35 and 43before the jointer clamp is closed.

When the jointing operation has been completed, clutch 81 will beenergized. By such clutch energization sprocket 77 will be locked toshaft 75 rotated in the clockwise direction by chain '57 and sprocket 58as indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 9. Sprocket 77 will drive the upperstretch of chain 79 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIGURE10, which will cause sprocket 64 to turn shaft 61 in the clockwisedirection as seen in FIGURE 9 for driving the upper stretches of belts35 to the right in FIGURES 9 and 10. Such movement of these belts, aspreviously explained, will move the pack of sheets from the jointer asseen at the left of FIGURE 3 to and onto the upper stretches of belts 36as shown in broken lines in that figure. As soon as the pack of sheetshas passed from this broken line position beyond belts 43, the clutch 81can be deenergized and the clutch 80 energized to reverse the directionof travel t 9 of belts 35 and 43 for the purpose of moving the next packof sheets from belts 33 to the jointer.

While a pack of sheets is in the jointer, it is necessary that it beclamped tightly so that an accurate jointing operation can be performed.The upper stretches of belts 35 must, however, pass between the clampingelements of the jointer in order to be able to move a pack of sheetsfully into the jointer before the jointing operation and reliably out ofthe jointer upon completion of the jointing operation. The supportingmechanism for the belts 35 cannot be located in a position which wouldinterfere with the movement of a jointing head along the edge of theclamped sheet pack to be jointed. Consequently, the pulleys 82 aroundwhich the left portions of belts 35 extend are mounted in registry withthe clamping mechanism of the jointer but in a manner so as not tointerfere with the clamping action of the jointer clamp.

As shown in FIGURE 9 the upper stretches of belts 35 extend across theupper surface of the lower clamping member. Each pulley 82 is rotativelysupported by a shaft 84 carried by the swinging end of a pulley mountingframe 85 pivotally supported to swing about a horizontal axis by pivot86. Normally, the pulley supporting frame is urged upward into alimiting upper position by a compression spring 87 which is interengagedbetween the pulley supporting frame and a stationary spring mountingbracket 88. When there is no load on the belts 35, therefore, the spring87 will hold the frame 85 up far enough so that the upper peripheralportion of pulley 82 will be substantially level with the upper surfaceof the lower clamp member.

When the jointer clamp is actuated to press a pack of veneer sheetsfirmly downward against the lower clamping member, such sheetssimultaneously will press downward pulley 82 to whatever extent may benecessary to allow the sheet pack to be clamped tightly. The downwardforce exerted on the pulley 82 will simply swing frame 85 downwardslightly about pivot 86 in opposition to the force of spring 87. Whenthe clamp is released, the spring will return the pulley upwardsufficiently so that the upper stretch of belt 35 moving to the right asseen in FIGURE 9 will press against the bottom of the sheet pack firmlyenough to remove the sheet pack from the jointer despite frictionbetween the pack and the lower clamping member. I

I claim as my invention:

1. In a jogging and jointing machine for sheets, jogging meansengageable with the lower edges of sheets in up right planes foreffecting registry of such lower sheet edges, jointing means engageablewith the registered edges of the sheets for jointing such edges, firstconveyor means movable substantially horizontally from said joggingmeans toward said jointing means for transporting jogged sheets, andsecond conveyor means engageable with jointed sheets for moving the sameaway from said-jointing means and toward said jogging means along a pathoffset vertically from said first conveyor means.

2. In a jogging and jointing machine for sheets, jogging meansengageable with the lower edges of sheets in upright planes foreffecting registry of such lower sheet edges, jointing means engageablewith the registering edges of the sheets for jointing such edges, firstconveyor means movable from said jogging means toward said jointingmeans for transporting jogged sheets, second conveyor means movable awayfrom said jointing means and toward said jogging means for transportingjointed sheets, and reversible conveyor means engageable with sheets onsaid first conveyor means for moving the same therefrom to said jointingmeans and when reversed engageable with jointed sheets for moving thesame from said jointing means to said second conveyor means.

3. In a jogging and jointing machine for sheets, jogging meansengageable with the lower edges of sheets in up right planes foreffecting registry of such lower sheet edges, jointing means engageablewith the registering edges of the sheets for jointing such edges, lowerconveyor means movable from said jogging means toward said jointingmeans for transporting jogged sheets, upper conveyor means movable awayfrom said jointing means and toward said jogging means for transportingjointed sheets, and reversible conveyor means engageable with sheets onsaid lower conveyor means for moving the same therefrom to said jointingmeans and when reversed engageable with jointed sheets for moving thesame from said jointing means to said upper conveyor means.

4.. In a jogging and jointing machine for sheets, jogging meansengageable with the lower edges of sheets in upright planes foreffecting registry of such lower sheet edges, jointing means engageablewith the registered edges of the sheets for jointing such edges, firstconveyor means including a first section movable from said jogging meanstoward said jointing means and a reversible section adjacent to saidjointing means for transporting jogged sheets, and second conveyor meansengageable with jointed sheets for moving the same away from saidjointing means and toward said jogging means including an upper sectionmovable along a path above said first section of said first conveyormeans and an inclined section tiltable between a position inclined fromsaid reversible section of said first conveyor means upward to saidupper section of said second conveyor means and a position in which thelower end of said inclined conveyor means section is spaced above saidfirst conveyor means to afford passage between said inclined conveyormeans section and said first conveyor means for passage of sheets fromsaid jogging means to said jointing means.

5. In a jogging machine for sheets, jogging means engageable with thelower edges of sheets in upright planes for effecting registry of suchlower sheet edges, substantially horizontal sheet supply means alongsidesaid jogging means, arms beneath said sheet supply means and swingablymounted adjacent to said jogging means, first actuating means connectedto said arms and movable to swing said arms from their positions beneathsaid sheet supply means into upright positions for tilting sheets fromsaid sheet supply means onto said jogging means, and second actuatingmeans separate from said first actuating means, connected to said armsand movable for tilting such sheets from upright position down intosubstantially horizontal positions following jogging in side-for-sideinverted positions.

6 In a jogging machine for sheets, jogging means supporting the loweredges of sheets which are disposed in upright planes, sheet supply meansat one side of said jogging means engageable with sheets insubstantially horizontal position and swingable to tilt such sheets intoupright position on said jogging means, and means at the same side ofsaid jogging means as said sheet supply means engageable with joggedsheets for moving them away from said jogging means in the directionopposite the direction in which they were moved into the jogging means.

I 7. A sheet jogger comprising jogging means, feed means operable tomove a pack of sheets in substantially horizontal position to one sideof said jogging means, stop means operable to arrest movement of such apack of sheets moved by said feed means upon reaching said joggingmeans, pack tipping means operable to tip such a pack of sheets on edgefor jogging of the sheet pack by said jogging means, and means operableto retract said stop means for removing the sheet pack from saidjog-ging means.

8. In a jogging machine for sheets, jogging means in cluding supportbars for supporting the lower edges of sheets which are disposed inupright planes, sheet supply means at one side of said jogging meansengageable with sheets in substantially horizontal position andswingable to tilt such sheets into upright position on said supportbars, actuating means connected to said support bars for tilting saidbars at the completion of the jogging operation to tilt such sheets tothe side of said jogging means op posite said sheet supply means,-andmeans atthe same side of said jogging means as said sheet supply meansengageable with jogged sheets for moving them away from said joggingmeans in the direction opposite the direction in which they were movedinto the jogging means.

9. A sheet jogger comprising jogging means, an arm, means swingablysupporting said arm alongside said jogging means for swinging between anupright position confining sheets in substantially upright planes duringjogging thereof by said jogging means and a downwardly swung positionbeneath the pack of sheets in substantially horizontal positionfollowing the jogging operation, said jogging means including a barbeneath the lower edges of sheets disposed substantially in uprightplanes for impact by the lower edges of such sheets during jogging andmeans mounting said bar for swinging movement conjointly with said armfrom a substantially horizontal position into upright position, andactuating means connected to said bar for effecting movement thereoffrom upright position to a location below the downwardly tilted pack ofsheets.

10. A sheet jogger comprising jogging means, an arm, means swingablysupporting said arm alongside said jogging means for swinging between anupright position confining sheets on said jogging means during joggingthereof and a lowered position for lowering a pack of sheets fromupright position on said jogging means, holddown means, and means at theside of said jogging means opposite said arm swingably supporting saidhold-down means for swinging conjointly with said arm when swing.- ingdownward and in the same direction to hold the pack of sheets againstsaid arm during downward swinging thereof. 7

11. In a jogging machine for sheets, jogging means engageable with thelower edges of sheets in upright planes for effecting registry of suchlower sheet edges, two arms pivoted respectively along opposite sides ofsaid jogging means for confining sheets therebetween on said joggingmeans during jogging thereof, first actuating means connected to a firstarm at one side of said jogging means for swinging such arm from anupright position confining sheets on said jogging means during joggingto a lowered position in which its upper end is swung away from saidjogging means, and second actuating means connected to a second arm atthe other side of said jogging means for swinging such arm from alowered position in which the upper end of such arm is swung away fromsaid jogging means into an upright position to tilt sheets into uprightplanes on said jogging means and to confine sheets on said jogging meansduring jogging, and through such upright position into a loweredposition in which the upper end of such arm is disposed at the oppositeside of said jogging means on which the upper end of said first arm isdisposed in low ered position.

12. In a jogging machine for sheets, jogging means engageable with thelower edges of sheets in upright planes for eflecting registry of suchlower sheet edges, two arms pivoted respectively along opposite sides ofsaid 12 jogging means for confining sheets there-between on said joggingmeans during jogging thereof, first actuating means connected to a firstarm at one side of said jogging means for swinging such arm from anupright position confining sheets on said jogging means during joggingto a lowered position in which its upper end is swung away from saidjogging means, second actuating means operatively connected to a secondarm at the other side of said jogging means for swinging such arm from alow ered position in which the upper end of such arm is swung away fromsaid jogging means into an upright position to tilt sheets into uprightplanes on said jogging means and to confine sheets on said jogging meansduring jogging, and third actuating means operable separately from saidsecond actuating means and operatively connected to such second arm toswing it from such upright position into a lowered position in which theupper end of such arm is disposed at the opposite side of said joggingmeans on which the upper end of said first arm is disposed in loweredposition.

13. In a jointing machine for sheets, jointing means engageable with theregistered edges of sheets in a sheet pack for jointing such edges,reversible conveyor means adjacent to one side of said jointing meansfor transporting such sheet pack to said jointing means when moving inone direction and for removing such sheet pack from the same side ofsaid jointing means when moving in the opposite direction, and upperconveyor means engageable with the upper sheet of such sheet pack andmovable away from said jointing means at substantially the same speed assaid reversible conveyor means.

14. In a jointing machine'for sheets, jointing means engageable with theregistered edges of sheets in a sheet pack for jointing such edges,reversible conveyor means adjacent to one side of said jointing meansfor transporting such sheet pack to said jointing means when moving inone direction and for removing such sheet pack from the same side ofsaid jointing means when moving in the opposite direction, conveyormeans inclined upwardly from said reversible conveyor means away fromsaid jointing means, upper conveyor means engageable with the uppersheet of such sheet pack and movable away from said jointing means atsubstantially the same speed as said reversible conveyor means, andmeans supporting said upper conveyor means for upward and downwardmovement to vary the spacing between said upwardly' inclined conveyormeans and said upper conveyor means to accommodate therebetween packs ofsheets of difierent thickness.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

